Since Istanbul is very hilly, our legs are challenged. Advil helps a lot.  We have also mastered the tram, the underground funicular, taxis, and buses.  Yesterday was a day of visiting historical churches that are now museums.

First we went to Chora Church on the outskirts of the old city next to the old walls of Constantinople.  The outside of the church is unadorned rough stone, typical of Byzantine churches.  But inside the church the walls are a dazzeling display of mosaics depicting Christian scenes with shimmery gold backgrounds.  They date from the 14th century during the late phase of Byzantine culture.







Below is a fresco in the funerary chapel.  The scene depicts Christ  descending into hell to save the righteous Old Testament figures.



Next we visited Hagia Sophia, the most important and famous of churches in Istanbul.  It was built during the 6th century by Roman Emperor Justinian and it served as the mother church for the Eastern church until 1453 when the Ottoman turks conquered the city and converted the church into a mosque.  Today it is a museum that has importance to both Christians and Muslims.  Until the construction of St. Peter's Bascilia, Hagia Sophia was the largest enclosed space in the world.  The interior is immense and the construction of domes supporting domes creates a space without interior supports.











When the church was converted to a mosque, the mosaics were covered with whitewash.  They have now been retored.



More later...